KUALA LUMPUR: Affordable childcare centres are to be set up in a move to get more women to join the labour force, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said on Thursday (July 27).

Announcing this as one of the initiatives of the Care Economy, he also said that the government would allocate RM10mil to facilitate the licensing of unregistered nurseries and childcare centres in the country.

Anwar, who is also the Finance Minister, made the announcement at the launch of the ‘Madani Economy: Empowering the People’ initiative here.

He said the rate of participation of women in the labour force was at a low 55.5 per cent and should be raised to 60 per cent for Malaysia to be more comparable in terms of the regional economy. Comparatively, the rate of participation of men in the labour force is 80.9 per cent, he added.

Anwar said efforts in terms of the legal and regulatory aspects, as well as support programmes, are needed to encourage mothers to return to work and bridge the gender divide in the labour market.

It included addressing systemic issues such as unpaid care work, gender discrimination and family support policies, he added.

The prime minister also said that the government would expand the social safety net with three pillars to safeguard the people in the event of undesirable incidents.

One of these mainstays, he said, was social insurance which recommends Employees Provident Fund and Social Security Organisation (Socso) phased coverage for the working-age population.

"The government has allocated RM100mil for 2023 to provide an 80 per cent grant to finance the Socso contribution of gig workers. However, according to EPF data, more than 40 per cent of the labour force does not get coverage for savings,” he said.

He said the second pillar is to improve the sustainability of retirement savings to ensure that it is adequate to cover the cost of living of those entering retirement while the third mainstay is security through social assistance, with the government continuing with and adding on various cash aid programmes and the ‘Rahmah’ programmes.

Anwar said the government would continue to strengthen the employment insurance system as well as retraining programmes to provide jobs for the unemployed in line with the transition from protecting jobs to protecting the worker in the context of a rapidly changing economy. - Bernama